Bechtel is an old Swiss Mennonite family name. By 1664 Peter Bechtel was listed in the Mennonite census lists of the Palatinate. Jacob Bechtel, also spelled in the immigration lists as Vechtel and Pritel, arrived in Philadelphia 31 October 1737 from the Palatinate. The family first settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and later moved to other states, including Ontario and Iowa. Eleven ministers by the name of Bechtel had served in the Franconia Mennonite Conference district by the 1950s.

Prominent in this family was George Bechtel (16? -1759), who came from Mannheim, Germany, to America 9 August 1729, an early leader in the Mennonite Church in Berks County, Pennsylvania; Andrew S. Bechtel (1874- ), pastor of the Mennonite church at Hanston, Kansas, who served as editor of the Christian Evangel and also editor of the Year Book of the General Conference, 1938-1940; and Joseph B. Bechtel (1865-1946), by occupation a watch maker and jeweler, an influential lay member in the General Conference Mennonite Church. The Bechtel Family History written by Joseph Bechtel was published in 1928.